Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
As you loyal readers know, Ashvegas likes to go out on a limb every once and awhile when it comes to political prognosticating. Sometimes we’re right, sometimes we’re wrong. But here we go again:
We’ll sum it up this way: Welcome back, Charles Taylor.
The dethroned former congressman will run against U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler next year. Look for the news to break Wednesday morning at the regular meeting of the Henderson County Republican Men’s Club down in Hendersonville.
The group meets at 8 a.m. at the Opportunity House. The club chairman says he’s in receipt of a letter from Taylor in reponse the group’s recent demand that Taylor announce whether he’s in or out for next year’s election. Other potential candidates have been waiting for Taylor’s decision.
Here’s why Taylor will run.
Backlash: On a national level, it’s a good bet that the Democratic Party will swing to a more liberal bent. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are current front-runners to take the party’s nomination for presidential candidate. That could well trigger a backlash in conservative country, such as the 11th Congressional District here in Western North Carolina. We all know voters like to mix it up at the polls. Taylor’s betting that, after seeing how the political winds are blowing at the White House level, they’ll want a tried-and-true conservative at the more local level.
GOP in shambles: The local Republican Party appartus is in a shambles. They took a whuppin’, as Dubya put it, and they’ve yet to recover here in WNC.
Seriously, who else is going to take on Shuler, a youthful conservative Democrat who pulled one of the biggest upsets of the ’06 elections, period.
Jeff Hunt? Who? Exactly. The district attorney based in Hendersonville has no weight in the party. Tom Apodoca? Perhaps, but the North Carolina state senator says he’s not interested in running. And again, he’s based in Henderson County, where there are enough votes to get him through a primary, but not a general election. What other serious contenders are there? None. Nada. Zero. The district’s Republican Party needs Charles Taylor now more than ever.
Out and about: Taylor is back in the public eye. He was seen on Monday at a large funeral for a Henderson County veteran who is credited with founding the Henderson County Republican Men’s Club. Taylor’s on the move. The Hendersonville Times-News reported that he was there, along with a number of other local dignitaries.
So there you have it. The scoop of the day. It will be Taylor v. Shuler, Clash of the Titans II.
Again, this is simply an Ashvegas prediction. We know not the contents of the Taylor letter or what his intentions are. This is simply our blog-best guess. We’ll see…
Hey Ash, longtime. Hope all goes well with you and crew. Dear Lord, I miss the mountains, just hiking in them. I even miss Chuck. Well, that would be overstating. But he was one of my first bylines.
the hottly anticpated letter… contained no hints that taylor was running. he just rambled on about nothing for a page.
No annoucnements, no hints, no election talk at all.
Looks like the HCRMC – and the 11th District GOP by extension – just got Punk’d by Taylor!
http://www.scrutinyhooligans.us/?p=3878
FWIW, I don’t think he’ll run, mainly due to health concerns. He looked like death warmed over when we saw him @ the "public town hall" in Flat Rock about a year ago, and although he’s probably better rested now I can’t imagine that his condition has improved any.
For what it is worth, Ashevillein agrees with you. I called this at drinking liberally a while back, but was too much of a wimp to put it on the blog.
Taylor does not know anything else. The opportunities for theft on a grand scale which exist only in Congress are too much of a draw.
I think he also still cannot believe he really lost, and it was all some kind of mistake.
Kudos for the limb-climbing.
I think that if Hillary is at the top of the ticket we’ll see Republicans galvanize and come out in record numbers. In that scenario, Taylor stands a chance.
If anyone else wins the nomination, Republicans are likely to stay home what with their truly lousy candidates and all.
If Taylor wants back into the game, we’ll be glad to dog him again. He’s a disgrace.
I’d like to see a big Republican field for the primary: Hunt, Apodaca, maybe even Mumpower. I’d like the Republicans to debate some policy and raise their game. It’s good for everyone when that happens.